The Ransom
by Dramaqueen617
Summary: Everything starts to go south once Faceless, a mysterious "man" takes an Avenger ransom. The Avenger, chosen by the readers, must face the past to stay alive while the rest of the Avengers search for them, getting pulled into the twists and turns of a young heartbroken girl's life.
1. Chapter 1

The Ransom Ch 1

"Checkmate!" Thor's triumphant cry rang out, his husky yet loud voice causing many people in the cafe to spin around to look at Thor. He didn't notice of course, he was too busy slamming the bishop down on the chessboard feeling the groves in the white piece's smooth wood from years of fingers, small and large; he must've hit the chessboard a little TOO hard, for the pieces on the board flew up in the air and clattering down like mildly dangerous wooden confetti.

"Aw, it's alright, Thor." Bruce grinned as Thor looked around apologetically at the angry faces of the people impaled by the (mildly!) dangerous wooden missiles, "I saw the pieces, you did win. Oh and sorry everyone." Bruce smiled warmly at the angry soon-to-be mob. Tony, who had been flirting with a group of giggling girls, leaned down to clean the mess off the sparkling purple tile floor of the cafe. Thor had always liked the color purple, not weakened lavender; deep rich royal purple fabric especially with a heavy rope of gold trailing down the middle, making the purple look as dark as night; that kind of purple.

"I guess if you can beat Mr. Banner, you truly have mastered the art of 'Midguard' games." Steve used some Norse vocabulary as he held a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and Thor's bishop in the other, which he pressed into Thor's empty hand, and Thor folded his fingers around it, putting it in his jeans' pocket; he'd gone shopping for Midguard attire a few days ago with Tony and Clint; Tony had suggested purchasing an object called a 'thong' which Thor had never seen or heard of; Clint changed the subject pretty quickly when that idea was brought up. The bishop pressed into his skin, because the pockets were tight, but Thor paid no mind to it; he was too busy helping clean up the rest of the mess. When the pieces were back in the box, Thor absentmindedly left the bishop in his pocket, where it remained when they got the call from Fury.


	2. Chapter 2

The Ransom Ch 2

Back at SHIELD, Fury sat by the computer looking serious. What a shocker. Bruce rushed over to the computer.

"Fury? You called about an issue. Did Loki come back?" Bruce asked frantically. Tony looked extremely excited.

"You look frantic, you know, like hulking-out frantic. HINT HINT!" Tony stage whispered to Bruce, before Natasha slapped a hand over Tony's mouth.

"I'm afraid an old enemy of ours a man that should've passed away by now has risen again." Fury told them in his usual serious tone, although more stress was injected in it.

"Risen? From the dead?" Thor questioned. How was that possible?

"Yeah, return of the dead, that's gonna happen." Tony replied smartly, "This isn't a horror movie, Fury."

"I don't care if this is a god be damned pornography, George Torres code name Faceless is back, whether it's cloning or Voldemort waving his damn wand!" Fury yelled. Tony usually wouldn't mind Fury yelling, but at the name "Torres" his face gained a look of disbelief and sadness, Thor looked at Tony in surprise, never seeing Tony like this.

"Torres?" He asked Fury, who nodded.

"Yeah, and we gained a location. You'll know what he looks like when you see him, he wears a white mask with no detail, not even holes in it, don't ask how he breathes!"

"Okay, time to suit up!" Steve said optimistically, before Thor opened his mouth to ask how Faceless breathes, "This can't be harder than Loki!"

"Don't underestimate Faceless, he's killed many without mercy." Fury said grimly.

"Okay, let's kick some Faceless ass!" Clint punched a fist into his opened leather gloved hand.

"I'll stay at work here in SHEILD," Natasha decided, kissing Clint on the cheek, "I'll figure out more information on this Faceless guy." Another peck on Clint's fire-engine red cheek then she sat down at a computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"What are you waiting for? Suit up!" Fury delivered his last line as something of a howl that reminded Thor of a wolf, a Midguard creature he had seen in woods one starry night, and wasn't too fond of it.

Thor walked back to the enormous room at SHEILD; he preferred his Asguard room by a landslide though. His Asguard room was:

1. Bigger

2. Gilded gold while this one was black and covered with nude pictures of Pepper Pots (courtesy of Tony)

3. Had a humongous bed instead of bunks

4. It was all to himself, not shared with the male Avengers (lucky Natasha she was the only female)

Thor preferred privacy when he slept, especially since Tony had gotten Bruce to hulk out while Thor was asleep the other night: you can get the picture. He wasn't thrilled about Tony's lust with Pepper; he missed Jane, whom he could never make contact with, and constantly felt jealous when Tony returned from a date; jealousy was new to Thor; he had everything at Asguard, but less here, which Thor knew very well, after requesting extra pillows to block out Steve's snoring.

"So, " Tony said, still pale as Jarvis automatically moved his armor in place, "We all know the Torres family, pretty rich."

"Who are they? I've never heard of them." Steve said and Tony snorted, although Thor was wondering precisely the same thing.

"Only the second richest family in the world." Tony snorted again.

"The first?" Asked Clint and Tony gestured to himself, all but his mask on.

"Why are these Torres' so rich?" Thor asked. Were they past mass murder weapon creators as well?

"They now are the producers of Playboy, duh, I read it all the time." Tony gestured to a Playboy magazine lying on his bunk, a naked girl wrapped in a red velvet sheet with tan skin and big violet, like seriously violet eyes that looked terrific with her blond straight hair look up at them, an innocent yet charming smile was on her dark red lips.

"That's Bethany Torres. Not only does the Torres family OWN Playboy, they have a protege modeling in it as well." Tony informed the Avengers, who had all suited up while he was talking, "I'm surprised they'd need a super villain in their family, they already can buy half the world; I can buy three fourths of course, but half is good." Tony flashed a grin, all color back in his face. Tony pulled down his helmet; Thor grasped his hammer; Steve grabbed his shield; Bruce, to Tony's disappointment claim that he wasn't in the hulking out mood so he would stay; Clint slung his quiver across his back. Thor grabbed hold of Steve's back and swung his hammer, flying out out the large open window, with Tony in tow, carrying Legolas- I mean Clint.

"Where are we headed Natasha?" Clint talked through a metal device attached to his ear; Thor did not understand how Clint could possibly believe that he could yell back to Natasha through a piece of metal on his ear, but sure enough Natasha's voice rang out for Thor to almost drop Steve in suprise.

"A small town near New York City in New York." Thor had no idea where that was, so Tony took the lead, guiding Thor alog.

"This is odd." Natasha's voice mysteriously rang out of the device again as Tony announced they were approaching New York, " When I search George Torres-"

"Did any Playboy pictures of his granddaughter, Bethany come up?"

"No Tony." Natasha sighed through the metal on Clint's ear, "An obituary comes up for George Torres."

"What is an obochary" Thor mispronounced the word.

"obituary. A memoir of a dead person," Natasha sighed again, obviously tired of getting interrupted, "Faceless is supposedly dead."

"Dead?" Shivers ran down Thor's spine, tingling like miniature bolts of lightning.

"Maybe he faked death, like in John Carter. Though that movie was disappointing, there was no sex!" Tony suggested, looking extremely disappointed.

"You need a hobby, Tony." Natasha exhaled loudly- yet another sigh, "But that's a good suggestion."

"Jarvis says that we're entering the town now." Tony landed, setting Clint down.

"Good luck guys, I'll look up more information about George's death." Natasha's voice ran of once more as Thor and Steve landed softly, Thor stopped spinning Mjolnir, relieved after the flight to New York which was a work out on his arms. They didn't have to search for Faceless for long at all, Tony gestured to a black figure.

"He's dead. This will be quick." Steve said, readying his sheild. With only strength Steve could muster, he launched his shield at the figure who could only be Faceless. Faceless had his back turned but Thor watched in surprise as Faceless jumped ten feet in the air, easily dodging the sheild. That's when Thor's stomach gave the sensation of throwing up. Faceless turned to face them. Thor saw a plain sheet of gray covering his face, indeed like a ghost. The rest of his body was cloaked in black, like a long black curtain of the night. Thor immediately flew after him, as Faceless jumped onto a house. Thor was glad this was a quiet town and not the city, house jumping would call more attention. The chase was long, Faceless easily jumping, embracing the air like an old friend, but there were times when he had to dodge the tall more-than-ten-feet buildings. Thor was gaining, Tony right behind him, also in pursuit; Faceless knew he couldn't choose the ground, Steve and Clint were down there; Steve running like a madman, shield in hand, Clint aiming arrows every ten seconds, and firing so that the arrows barely missed Faceless. One long Mjolnir spinning minute later, Thor was right at Faceless' heels, and with a burst of energy he tackled Faceless, Thor landing on top of him, arms pressed on his shoulders, letting Faceless' body dig into the rough, unsteady, roof of a small work building.

"Nice one, Shakespeare, now to unmask him dramatically, and gift him to SHEILD!" Tony landed next to Thor, while Clint used a grappling arrow to get up, holding onto Steve. Thor looked at the blank gray mask, carefully removing it. His breath caught, and he felt unsteady at what he saw. The magazine on Tony's bed. The WOMAN inside the costume smiled up, the deadly beautiful face of Bethany Torres. All she said, looking into his eyes with her violet ones was one cocky sentence.

"Bet you wanna kiss me ."


	3. Chapter 3 with COMMENTARY!

_**Sorry for not typing in bold slanty writing earlier . I'm gonna slow down with the chapter submission. Bethany with the kiss thing: She's playing with Thor. No, this is not gonna turn into a big romancey thingy. I've written too many on my own. :P Eat radioactive pinnaples and have a nice day! **_

_**-Dramaqueen617 **_

The Ransome ch 3

"So let me get this straight, Bethany Torres, a playboy magazine starlet, and almost as rich as Stark is Faceless? Has she said anything?" Fury demanded.

"Just her demands," a SHEILD agent, male, replied, "We need two hair bands and 28 bobby pins. Does Natasha have any?" He turned to Natasha, who rolled her eyes and pulled the needed materials.

"Why are you MEN with SHORT hair raiding my collection?" Natasha demanded.

"Bethany needs them." The agent blushed deep sunset pink.

" Jesus, what a pampered prisoner. Didn't you people also give her a huge prison, with real gold wallpaper, a soft red velvet carpeting AND a rich blue canopy bed? Natasha raised her eyebrows, looking intrigued with the agents' gifts.

"Uh..." The agent rushed away.

" I guess she's hard to resist." Steve laughed. Thor stood up quickly.

"Ooh, Where you going loverboy? Why did she ask that? Did you want to kiss her?" Tony fired these questions like Clint's arrows- with deadly accuracy; they caught Thor off guard and he answered both, when he usually wouldn't.

"I have no clue why she said those inappropriate words, and I was caught off guard by her appearance but I didn't-"

"Yes you did, admit it. She's a damn model for Playboy, you would want her." Tony teased.

"What is this playboy? A game?" Thor implored, the magazine didn't give him any hints.

"Listen do you like naked girls?" Tony questioned, again, throwing Thor off-guard.

"Uh, well if in the right situation then I might uh-"

"Say no more; so Playboy is basically-" Tony was interrupted this time by none other than Steve.

"Tony, not the time. Everyone but Thor has visited Bethany, maybe since she talked to you when you caught her," Steve paused to smirk, "Then maybe this stubborn dame will give answers."

"I will not be thanking you for this." Thor stood up, grabbed the key and the hair accessories and followed the winding puzzling hallways to Bethany's prison. He stopped in front of the white doors using the high tech key to unlock the door.

Thor's mouth fell open in shock. Not be because of the enormous room, way better than the Avenger team's room, but because of what Bethany was doing.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sorry if this seems delayed, I have another fanfic for Scorpio Races. Check it out sometime… **_

Bethany was swinging on one of the golden poles on the ceiling. She stopped when she saw Thor, swinging off and catching the impact in her silver moon boots, looking unfazed by Thor's gaping mouth.

"Hey lover, how about that kiss?" Despite her Spanish last name, she had a faint British accent.

"That was extremely innapropriate, Miss Torres, I have no attraction to you. I have come to ask questions." Bethany Torres gave Thor a pouty look.

"And if I don't answer them? Also, I prefer my mother's last name: Williamson, it's British."

"Then we have a nice new less extravagant cell waiting for you, Miss Williamson. And you will not get any of your demands."

"Shit. Fine, I'll answer your damn questions." Bethany pulled up her moon boots, straightened her emerald form fitting halter top, and slunk over to Thor, giving him the impression of a cat; a very angry and sultry cat.

"First off, how did you jump that high?" Thor looked at her, expecting an answer in her looks. He was half right.

"Moon boots. My grandfather, the first Faceless, he helped raise me and he advanced my moon boots to jump up to ten feet."

"Ah, yes." Thor answered, all though he had no idea what she was talking about, "Also, it would be great to be informed about your reasoning to become Faceless."

"My grandfather, the original faceless was a troubled man. He thought that he could become a hero, rid the world of the evil, but not showing off about it like you lot," Thor opened his mouth to protest, but Bethany went on, " He made a gray china plate, nothing to see or breath, he mask supplied a form of both; the black outfit was simple, an old black choir gown," Bethany gestured to the costume laying on her bed, and Thor decided not to question the meaning of the word choir. "He succeeded greatly, the population of murderers had fallen down quickly, but my grandfather didn't stop; he went crazy, seeing bad guys everywhere he walked. We tried to keep him inside, but he invented greater, more powerfully dangerous weapons of murder. He always mentioned something about looking for his Lock master. I heard him muttering Lock under his breath more than once, whenever he was in his invention space. Then he was killed; some man thinking he was so super destroyed him on a ball of blue fire; I've been searching for that man ever since, ready to strike when I see him. I've used some of my father's own inventions to help me out." Her grin stretched across her face, and she jumped into the air using her moon boots her hand grasping one of the ceiling pipes. Her hand reached down, and the same way Mjolnir flew to Thor, Bethany's Faceless costume flew onto her body, disguising her remind features.

"Where are you?-" Thor yelled before getting interrupted by Bethany.

"Sorry lover, I've got somewhere to go!" Her gold bangle bracelet transformed into a small knife, which created a hole in the roof, yes, SHEILD was stupid enough to put her on the top floor. With one hop, she was gone. Thor stood there, gaping at the hole in the roof as all the agents came rushing in. There was no use, she was probably long gone by now. Bethany felt a rush of the usual heart stopping adrenaline as she made impact on the next building, soaring back up against the wind. Little did her lover know, she would be back.

_**Sorry, Thor, you know Bethany's playing you…**_


	5. Chapter 5

The Ransom Ch 5

"Wow a bracelet that can transform into a small knife?" Bruce couldn't help gushing- although evil, George Torres must've been a genius to invent stuff like this.

"Slow it down Banner," Tony said as he stuffed another blueberry in his mouth, "It's just a knife, I mean, look at MY technology!" Thor, who was sitting in the back grunted in disgust.

"Aw, is widdle Thor sad because widdle Befany weft?" Tony mocked, and Thor strode over and hit the bowl of blueberries of Tony's hand so that the bowl of blue missiles landed squarely on Tony's head, ruining his perfect hair. Tony spat in disgust; if an angry Bethany wasn't enough, now he had to schedule another appointment at the salon. He didn't want to tell the other guys about his Torres issues, they were kind of sad. Yes, he was a full fledged granddaddy murderer, and Bethany knew it. Did she tell Thor? Tony decided to test it out.

"Uh Thor, so what else did Bethany tell you? Did she mention me?" Thor shook his head sharply, and Tony sensed jealousy, so he decided to drop the subject; because killing her grandfather was not all he had done to Bethany. Yes, she had lost her golden V card to Tony.

"It's one AM guys." Steve yawned, " We need to search for Bethany again tomorrow, and we we're supposed to get to sleep early." All the Avengers silently stooped back to the cabin, feeling overwhelmed with sudden sleep.

Bethany lept onto the windowsill, carefully balancing, trying not to look down. She didn't know what she was doing, trying to capture Tony Stark for kill. She dabbed some acid cream on the side of the window, her grandfather's invention of course. Bethany couldn't invent something for her life. He'd left instructions, maybe for the Lock guy he always muttered about. Turns out, it wasn't as hard as she thought, just mixing a few chemicals and voila! Bethany, although super angry at Stark, couldn't help but be a little self conscious at her style. Stark had taken her virginity when she was fourteen! (AN: they were dating, Stark was seventeen) Okay, she wasn't just going to kill him for that; he also murdered her grandfather. No she was not just THAT bloodthirsty for Tony. Bethany crept in, and looked around for Tony. All the shapeless lumps were hard to distinguish, but she took a good guess and took the lump of covers nearest to her. Not bothering to look, she through him in her black person sized cloth bag and sleep gas instantly filled it. Another of her granddaddy's inventions. Then, doing her best to hold the bag, she clicked a button on her belt (AN: ha ha as convenient as Batman's) making the gravitational pull less for the hostage, therefor, lighter weight. She knew Bruce Banner would kill for an invention like this, and smiling triumphantly, she flew into the night.

AN: You Decide: Pick any of the male Avengers. Bethany's fatal flaw is obvious: not thinking ahead. Who did she capture? Who will she spend the most time and fall in love with, while the Avengers search through her granddaddy's twisted labyrinth of history? And none of the Avnegers will die, not even Tony, so feel free to pick any of the guys (but not Fury, if you count him as an Avenger) Cheers!


	6. Letter to all

A word to my lovely followers…  
Deepest apologies to all of you. I randomly lost akll the reviews on who Miss Bethany should er… _capture__**. **_I would appreciate it if all of you forgiving people would retype your picks. I know you are probably saying extremely nasty things like shiitake mushrooms and firetruck, because you expected another extremely awkward Bethany chapter, with her probably sitting on Tony or Thor's lap, eating fondue.

Deepest apologies once again. CHEERS!

Dramaqueen617


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